News

MapPoint Loses .NET From its Name

In its campaign to strip the overused .NET name from as many products as possible, Microsoft recently renamed MapPoint .NET to the MapPoint Web Service.

MapPoint had been one of the most legitimate recipients of the .NET name, as MapPoint is a service that Microsoft offers for developers to provide location-based information in their applications.

But as Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates has admitted, Microsoft was too aggressive with the .NET name, and the overuse diluted its meaning.

In a formal statement, a Microsoft spokesman said, "This change supports Microsoft's overall effort to clarify the naming and branding strategy around .NET. As support for Web services becomes intrinsic across our entire product line, we are moving toward a consistent naming and branding strategy to better enable partners to affiliate with this strategy and customers to identify .NET-enabled products."

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

Featured

  • World Map Image

    Microsoft Taps Nebius in $17B AI Infrastructure Deal To Alleviate Cloud Strain

    Microsoft has signed a five-year, $17.4 billion agreement with Amsterdam-based Nebius Group to expand its AI computing capabilities through third-party GPU infrastructure.

  • Microsoft Brings Copilot AI Into Viva Engage

    Microsoft 365 Copilot in Viva Engage is now generally available, extending Copilot's AI-powered assistant capabilities deeper into the Viva platform.

  • MIT Finds Only 1 in 20 AI Investments Translate into ROI

    Despite pouring billions into generative AI technologies, 95 percent of businesses have yet to see any measurable return on investment.

  • Report: Cost, Sustainability Drive DaaS Adoption Beyond Remote Work

    Gartner's 2025 Magic Quadrant for Desktop as a Service reveals that while secure remote access remains a key driver of DaaS adoption, a growing number of deployments now focus on broader efficiency goals.

Most   Popular